Fish Factor

The debate over which sector – commercial or recreational fishing – provides the bigger economic punch can finally be put to rest.

The annual ‘Fisheries Economics of the US’ report by the Dept. of Commerce shows once and for all that in terms of values, jobs, sales and incomes the commercial sector far outscores recreational fishing. A breakdown of the extensive report by market analyst John Sackton shows that in 2012, commercial fishing had $140 billion in sales compared to $58 billion for sport fishing. And for the value contributed to the national economy, commercial fishing added nearly $60 billion, double the recreational sector.

In terms of jobs, the seafood industry employed 1.27 million people compared to 380,000 for sports anglers. The most striking difference, Sackton said, is in where those people are employed. For sport fishing it was building boats and engines, representing 82% of both employment and sales and it is very regionally concentrated. The NOAA report added that less than 20% of the jobs in the sport industry come from guides, boat operators, tackle shops and various rentals.   

For the commercial fishing industry, the value and jobs created are spread throughout the  entire country; for the recreational sector, they are concentrated in a few states and industries. For example, Florida accounted for 30% of all US recreational fishing jobs; add in the Gulf States and N. Carolina and the number jumps to nearly half the national total.

The economic benefits of the commercial seafood sector also penetrate all parts of the US and the economy. Unlike its sport counterparts, a fisherman in Alaska is in fact supporting dozens of other US jobs in retail, wholesale, distribution and import sectors. In short, the facts negate the argument that  recreational fishing has a greater or more direct economic impact than the commercial fishery.

The Economics report also breaks down information by region. In terms of prices, it shows that of 10 key US species, sea scallops, Pacific halibut and sablefish received the highest ex-vessel (dock) prices in 2012 at $9.83, $4.48 and $3.42 per pound, respectively.

Menhaden and pollock had the lowest ex-vessel prices in 2012 at $0.07 and $0.12 per pound. However, landings of both species were the largest in the US at 1.77 billion pounds of menhaden and 2.87 billion pounds of pollock. Find a link to the ‘Fisheries Economics of the US report at http://www.alaskafishradio.com.

Get your gear on - The call is out for entries in the international Smart Gear competition! The contest, which began in 2005 by the World Wildlife Fund, rewards new gear ideas that help fishermen retain target catches while letting marine mammals, turtles, birds or small fish swim away.

This year’s competition offers the largest prize pool ever, said program director, Michael Osmond in a phone interview.

“There is a $30,000 grand prize; two $10,000 runners up prizes, and we also have two $7,500 what we call special bycatch prizes. One of them is a tuna bycatch reduction prize, and the other is a marine mammal bycatch reduction prize.”

The competition goes well beyond the cash prizes, he added.

“The second step is to get those ideas to the stage where they can actually be out there being used by industry, and doing the job they were designed to do,” he said.

Deadline to enter the Smart Gear contest is August 31. http://www.smartgear.org